Man! Walkin' past all those wind farms on the Oregon/Washington border sure makes you feel small, each one of the three blades is 157 feet long! The tower they are attached to is about five stories!
    Near Toppenish, Washington, a young man stopped and inquired of my sign. He said he was 24 and made real good money working at the wind farms. He asked what my sign had done for me, had it changed my life? I told him it has changed my life so much that I think the letters comprising the words, "LOVE LIFE" had actually dripped down from the sign and entered through the top of my head! Then He told me he had attempted to take his life about three times. He hung his head down and said, " But I don't do that anymore." 
Then he raised up the shirt sleeve on his right arm and said, "Now I do this!" Up and down his arm were several cuts and burns, some, the size of the end of a coke bottle! He continued, "I do self mutilation." I said, "I am absolutely thrilled that you did not take your life! I can see in your eyes and hear in your voice, you are a very sensitive and caring individual. You are the ones that are most likely to attempt to end your own life. And the irony is.... you are the very ones the universe needs the most!" I told him how he didn't have the right to take his own life as it did not belong just to him. I told him of how we can do anything we want in this life, especially in this country, except, hurt other people. And suicide, I explained to him, goes way past just hurting others... It completely devastates the lives of those left behind... you just don't have the right to do it! I looked him in the eyes and I said, "Ya know what...... I love you!" That made and him pull his head back ,his eyes enlarge and just stare at me. I went on, "Yeah, let me tell you how a perfect stranger can love you like that. I can no longer give to them, all the love I have for my two babies... and it has to go somewhere, so... I put it toward the children of others who are still alive and can receive it." I could tell this touched him. He then said to me, "Well I promise I am never going to try to kill myself again!" "Fantastic!" I said, "Now, what about that stupid shit you're doing to yourself for attention?" I kept talking though, I didn't really want an answer from him... yet. " You know, The advent of DNA is really a fantastic discovery, it has proven just how completely unique we are... one from the other! Of the billions of people inhabiting the universe, we are all uniquely individual one from the other! This is a friggin' miracle!" His eyes enlarged again and he said, "I hadn't ever thought about that... wow!" I continued, "Now, if science has proven that each one of us are different from the other, doesn't that make us unique then, from each other? This time I let him answer, and he said, "Well, yes, I guess it does." And I said, "Then why do you have to get attention by cutting and burning yourself then?" He hung his head and said, "I guess I should stop it, I guess I should listen to all my friends and stop it for them." " No!" I said, "You should stop it for you! Your friends have been telling you to stop it for a long time... and you haven't stopped! When others tell you to stop, you simply go mutilate yourself again so they'll tell you to stop again! That's how you get the attention you mistakenly think you need!" He started crying, crying hard. I reached out so as to shake his hand, but I didn't let go, I continued to hold his hand and explained to him again how  the universe needs soft hearted individuals like himself who are sensitive enough to understand the problems of others.
    He kept shaking my hand and told me he really felt he was supposed to stop and talk to me and that he had been feeling an awful lot of guilt lately for what he had been doing to himself. With tears running down his cheeks, he said, "You really helped me sir, nobody has talked to me like that before sir." Now the tears are running down my cheeks. Let's all direct positive thoughts, prayers, whatever it is you do to send positive energy toward your fellow human being, please, do it for this fine and precious young man! PLEASE!

 Met a fine man named Philip. Philip is 47 and was driving a very nice BMW and appeared and seemed to be quite successful in life. He was very intelligent and very caring and extremely interested in what I was doing and he loved my sign!  Philip explained to me that he had only months before, married a woman quite a bit younger than him. He started describing his new bride to me. He said, with much exuberance, "She is the  most honest woman I have ever met in my life!' I have never met anyone else like her... she is special!" And then he added, "She's addicted to meth. She's at a treatment center near Yakima and I'm going to see her now." He explained to me that she was completely up front with him about her addiction from the first time they met, Every time he spoke of her, no matter what it was, his eyes lit up! Philip is very much in love with his wife, weaknesses and all! He said she had been to other treatment centers before and then relapsed each time and went back to the drug. He excitedly explained to me how this new facility was one of the best in the country and he felt this time was very promising for success. He said that the next weekend , as part of his wife's treatment, he would actually spend three days at the facility with her. He was so excited about everything concerning his wife, I don't know that I have ever seen a man any more in love with their wife than Philip!
    Philip told me that he was in for the long haul, that he married his wife knowing exactly what the deal was and that he was standing by her no matter what! He smiled when he told me that at first his wife's mother was totally against their marriage and has since changed her mind and told her daughter, "Philip may be the best thing that has ever happened to you." He was still smiling when he said, "That was nice that she said that... but I didn't need to hear it.... I've already made up my decision to follow through to the end, whatever that end may be. I'm not expecting any kind of guarantee... I just love my wife."
    I told Philip how very blessed his wife was to have found someone as dedicated and determined an individual as he. He immediately said, "I'm the one that's blessed! She is wonderful and she has taught me so very much about life and about my fellow human being and just so much more!"  I said, "Ya know Philip, I've heard of people like you before, but You may be the first one I've ever met." "What do you mean by tat?" Asked Philip. And I answered. "Someone that promises to absolutely and positively love someone unconditionally and then.... does!" He smiled. I was really starting to enjoy his smile, a sincere and meaningful smile.
    I just sat there listening to this 47-year-old man and being amazed at his determined devotion to his precious drug addicted wife. I asked, " I'll bet you had some friends who voiced their disapproval of your marriage to a woman admittedly addicted to meth?" "Oh, you just would not believe!" He said. I said, "Get new friends!" He laughed and said that was exactly the way he was treating it! 
    Okay, we're going to need some more of those positive thought exercises directed toward Philip and his precious little wife that they have all the strength they'll need to fight her addiction to that evil drug... PLEASE!!! 

    Walking down Washington RT. 821, Canyon Road, and following the Yakima River was a delight!  I stopped in one the U.S. Forest service campgrounds to see if I could bum some water from one of the campsites. I approached a big nice motor home and asked if the park had water. The guy I asked said, "Nah, but we do and we're gettin' ready to have lunch, would you care to join us?"  "OH Yeah!" Says I! It was the family of Ron and Donna Fox and son Randy. They had already prepared their plates and told me where everything was in their RV and told me to help myself to grilled hot dogs, potato salad, beans, olives, iced tea, etc. It was great food. Ron had just retired  and bought the motor home for he and Donna to live in permanently and travel the country. They were just passing through the Yakima area to visit their son Randy. We had great conversation and they all asked me a lot of questions about my walks. Doris offered to make me something for the road, I turned it down, as she would have had to cook up something.

    On 97 near Liberty, a guy with one of the blackest beard's I've ever seen stopped across the road from me and offered me a ride. He spoke very broken English, he explained that he was Russian but had been in the U.S. for twenty years. His name was Aleksandr Stepaoy. He told me that in the former Soviet Union, he and his whole family had been persecuted for their Christian beliefs. He said he spent three years in a Siberian prison, his brother spent six years and he had uncles who had spent as much as twenty years confined and even tortured for their beliefs. He pulled up his left trouser leg to reveal a horrible scar next to terribly deformed looking knee cap! In his strong accent, he said, "This is what the Communist's did to me for believing in Jesus Christ and for not going to Afghanistan to kill innocent people!" Damn! He explained that 22 of his family were now in the U.S. and they lived in a commune like environment there in Washington. He spoke very passionate and seemed very sincere. Now, I think I heard this right, I asked him to repeat it several times but the accent was so strong and he spoke so excitedly, I'm still not sure but it sounded like he was telling me that his father had managed to get his name on a list of people that Ronald Reagan asked to speak to when he visited Moscow. He said that the KGB kept constant vigilance over his father and would not allow him to speak to Reagan. And it sounded like he wasn't too crazy over Gorbachev. He asked once more he if I wanted a ride and was absolutely amazed that I wanted to walk instead of ride in his car! He just kept shaking his head and asking if I was sure. He also asked if I needed anything else and then drove away.
    The next morning, Aleksandr stopped again and introduced me to his brother, Peter. Peter, he said, was the one who had spent six years in a Siberian prison camp. They were on their way to Seattle to pick up a wrecked car to rebuild for a family member who needed a car. It's really hard to get bored out here on the highway... I may have to write a damn book!

    I entered a little restaurant called the Liberty Cafe. One of the waitress's had been outside and seen me walk up with my beautiful "LOVE LIFE" sign. As soon as I sat down, the three waitress's, Barb, Deb, and Carla, were asking me questions about my walk. They let me charge up my laptop and phone and kept coming over to ask more questions every time they had a spare moment. I just love it when that happens! When people show an actual interest and want to know more once they find out about my cause.... makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something. As soon as I was finished eating, the three of them came outside with m a and had one of their regular customers take pictures of us all together. These moments are the best! They each hugged me and they gave me some donuts to take with me. I felt loved and appreciated.

    A man in front of me on the highway had pulled into the driveway of his family's ranch and was sitting there on the tailgate of his truck waiting for me to approach him. His name was Sarn Salmon and he wanted to know exactly what I was doing. We talked awhile and he told me to throw my gear in the back of the truck, that he wanted to take me up to the house and refresh my water and see if he couldn't find me a few things to eat for my long stretch before I got to the next town. He came out of his house with water and a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich, a variety of energy bars, some cheese, and a full bottle of California Cabernet Sauvignon and a corkscrew! He offered to let me stay in his cow pasture for the night and I accepted! I found a spot where there was no cow shit and pitched my tent. I sat there eating cheese, sipping on my bottle of wine and occassionally shooing away a curious young bull so he wouldn't step on my nice laptop! I have it made, Life/God spoils me rotten!

    About twelve miles from Leavenworth, Washington, I went into a very charming little store to see if I could grab something to eat before they closed. The store was called Ingall's Creek Convenience Center. The guy behind the counter had a good laugh with me when I picked up a prepared sandwich out of the cooler and said, "Six dollars?!" "That's the date." He said, laughing. His name is Lonnie DelVillar and he and his wife Patrice own the store and Bed and Breakfast. As I sat at their coffee bar eating my $4.00 NOT $6.00 sandwich, Lonnie kept asking me questions about my walk. I asked him if It would be relatively easy to find a camping spot along the way to Leavenworth. He and Patrice talked about it and then she walked over to me and said they wanted to give me a room for the night in their Bed & Breakfast! I couldn't believe it! This place was so nice! She took me up stairs to the room and showed me around... she treated me as though I was a paying guest! I just couldn't believe how very nice the room was and how tastefully done and how well appointed everything was! Ambiance, ambiance! Just a perfect Bed & Breakfast! I've stayed in quite a few over the years and I've never seen one as nice as theirs! 
    Patrice came up later and invited me to have dinner with them... you know I accepted! We had a shrimp casserole dish and all kinds of other wonderful things to eat including, a huge bowl of some of the biggest strawberries I ever saw with fresh whipped cream! Everything was delicious! Lonnie and I talked until 1:00 in the morning... I'm usually in my tent and asleep by 8:00 pm. While we talked, Patrice had been preparing a little care package for me, consisting of energy bars, hand warmers, snack crackers, laundry detergent packets, etc.! I hated to leave that beautiful room come morning! Did I mention, I cry a lot out here on the road.
    If you are ever in the Washington state area of Leavenworth, Wenatchee, and Lake Chelan area, please treat yourself to a stay at Ingall's Creek Bed & Breakfast! Oh, and they have a wonderful area in back where they build a fire and love to sit around with their guest's and share... wonderful! Oh, and Lonnie also has a tour guide service for all the local wineries! You will not get bored when you stay with Lonnie and Patrice!

    I had just left Ingall's Creek when a young man yelled at me from his front yard and asked if I needed water or anything. I walked over and met Chris Augustson and his wife Heather.I talked awhile with he and his wife and gave them my card. About half an hour later Chris pulls up beside me on his dirt bike and hands me some wooden medallions with the Aztec calendar engraved on them and on the other side was an advertisement for his fathers business, Elite Gallery & Gifts in Waterville, Washington. The wooden pieces are called trading chips and are wooden business cards... cool! He had called his father, Dan, and told of our meeting. Dan then told him to go find me as he wanted to make some wooden trading chips for me! Soooo... when I drop back down from the Canadian border and head for Key West, I'm going to pass near Waterville and pick up my trading chips!

    About an hour after my meeting with Chris, I noticed to my left, two young men and a young lady all barefoot, all with very long hair, and all stooped and pulling weeds from a very large and very well organized garden. They started waving at me vigorously and expressing appreciation for my sign. I walked over and introduced myself to Lynn Lyons, Betsy Goodman, and William Mondragon. They were modern day hippie's and they were wonderful! They were so excited to meet me and they immediately began picking radishes, lettuce, onions, and scallions for me. They said they grow and nurture their organic garden so as to give to others and express their love for their fellow man by giving fresh food from the earth to all their neighbors and all they encounter! It was all delicious and the radishes were particularly wonderful! We talked at length about life and the beauty of it, about peace and they expressed the belief that man will never find peace until we first find it individually inside ourselves. I enjoyed them very much! They seemed delighted that I stopped to talk to them, they kept saying, "Thank you for taking the time to talk to us!" It was my pleasure! They fixed me up a little bag of the wonderful fresh veggies to take with me. I felt real good when I walked away, I looked back over my shoulder and the three of them were in different spots in the garden once again back to tending the earth's offerings... as if they had not stopped at all.

    In the Bavarian themed town of Leavenwoth, Washington, I was walking down the street enjoying the cheerful music being played by the live bands and, as I walked park a park bench, I noticed an electrical outlet next to the bench... a place to plug in my laptop and phone for charging! There was a lady, about my age, sitting on the bench reading a book. I asked her, "Hey, you think they would mind if I used some of their electricity to recharge my phone and laptop?" She looked up from her book and said, "Why not, even if they do mind, what are they going to do.... make you give it back?!" I love a smart-ass! I plugged in my equipment and she and I began a great conversation. She was very intelligent and so very knowledgeable. She was in town for a book signing at the local bookstore for her new book! Her name was Janey Bennett and her book is called "The Pale Surface Of Things" and it has won seven national awards! She described it to me at length and it sounds like a wonderful and enlightening read! We talked for about two hours and then she had to leave for her book signing. I hated to see her go, she was just so very interesting to talk to! On the promotional bookmark she gave me, her book is described as, "A fast moving novel in a Cretan village... kidnaps and killings, prayers and healing, ethics and ritual... and a darned good tale!" Am I on an adventure... or what!

    In the town of Skykomish, I spent the night at a hikers hostel, it's only a few miles from where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses at Steven's Pass. That evening, I went into a little bar called the Whistling Post. The bartender asked if I were a hiking the PCT and when I told her what I was doing, she said, "Holy Shit!" I told her that's what all texan's said to me after they found out what I was doing... she was from Arlington, Texas! She told me that less than two years before, her boyfriend had committed suicide! We talked about it and she was trying to listen but she was so busy with other customers, it was difficult for her. Evidently she heard more than I thought she did... the next morning, at the front desk was birthday card for me and a big batch of homemade cookies! The card read, Happy Birthday Steve!
Here are some cookies I made for you. God bless you!
Your story touched my heart! Suicide of a loved one has 
been my biggest trial by far. Thank you for reminding me
to Love Life, which I try to do every day. I am going to pass
your story and website to everyone I know! Please stop in 
and visit Skykomish, WA if you are ever back this way.
Happy Birthday from Delana
(I'm the Whistling Post bartender from Texas who said "Holy Shit!" to your story)

    I walked over Steven's Pass which was a great event for me. In December of 2003, I was about 15 miles west of Gold Bar walking in knee deep snow and headed for Steven's Pass when a Washington Highway patrol trooper stopped me and told me I could go no farther and as a matter of fact, I had to go back to Gold Bar! She said it was too dangerous and would be even more dangerous at Steven's Pass. She said she was going to flag down someone and ask them if they would take me back to Gold Bar. I was so pissed! I had been enjoying the absolute beauty of the snow covered Cascades! I said to her, "What if I refuse to take the ride?" She smiled and said, "Then I will follow you in my cruiser with the lights flashing all the way to Gold Bar." How embarassing would that be! She won. Then she told me that I had to hitch a ride from Gold Bar all the way to Leavenworth! It took two days to hitch a ride! There was an Expresso Cafe and a bar across from where I had to hitchhike, the bar fed me three times and the young lady working in the cafe brought me hot chocolate a few times.

    My boots I started out with in california finally wore out on me, rocks were starting to come in from the worn out bottoms. My right shoe always wears out prematurely because my foot had to bere-attached after a motorcycle wreck in 1969. So I didn't want to hit Danner Boots up just yet for a new pair because it's really not their fault the one boot wears out so fast. The left boot was still in great shape. (Danner Boots are awesome!) So, I thought I would buy a very cheap pair to get me by for awhile and the hit Danner up for another donated pair. In Monroe I saw a shoe repair store which sold boots, Quality Boot & Repair. Sometimes shoe repair places will sell used boots, so I thought I would give that. The owner, Kevin Pease, looked on his shelves and did not have anything used which would work for me. And all his new boots were high quality like Red Wings, etc. I just couldn't afford to pay $200.00 and up. But Kevin and I talked for a very long time and had a great time laughing and cutting up! Hee the slow economy was really starting t o hurt his shoe sales. After I left, I walked into a grocery store and found a cheap pair of boots for $19.00!
    Later that night, Kevin called to see if I was still in Monroe. He asked me to come by his store and see him before I left. I went in the next morning and Kevin said he and his girlfriend had checked out my website the night before and they had decided they just had to help me! He was apologizing that he hadn't caught me before I bought the cheap ones. I told him it was great because now I could give someone something as well, I would just drop them in the Goodwill box or something. Kevin was so picky about making sure my new boots fit just right and would be comfortable foR me over the long haul. He picked out a beautiful pair of waterproof Red Wings for me! They probably retailed for around $200.00!
    While I was trying on my new boots Kevin started getting real busy, he made two big sales while I was still in the store. I called him a few hours later while walking down the highway to let him know how wonderful t he new boots were and he told me he had one of the best days the store had had in quite awhile! He said, "Thank you, you brought  them in." I said, "No I didn't... it was your heart that brought them in!" I love Karma... as I was walking out of town, I spotted a Goodwill box and popped in the pair of boots!